


if heaven’s a prison (then i am your prisoner)

by symbioteseo



Series: cat hybrid johnny adventures [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cat/Human Hybrids, M/M, cat hybrid johnny, idk i just felt like writing soft kitty johnny, mentions of heat, part of a series maybe???, slice of life-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 10:18:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17181098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/symbioteseo/pseuds/symbioteseo
Summary: Taeil’s got a new pet.





	if heaven’s a prison (then i am your prisoner)

**Author's Note:**

> i said i’d publisj this like 11 years ago but whatever  
> hmu @symbioteseo on twt :3

Taeil brings him home on a night when the noise of the city is muffled by a fresh layer of snow, sounds muted and distant. It casts a sense of quiet calm over the house. Taeil goes around, turning on lights so Johnny can explore. In hindsight he remembers that Johnny can likely see just fine in the dark.

  
Johnny’s still standing in the front entryway, hugging his whale plushie to his chest. Taeil can see the end of his tail twitching where it’s curled around one of Johnny’s thighs, the triangular black ears on top of Johnny’s head swiveling around to take in all the noises of a new home.

  
Johnny looks at Taeil, eyes big and curious. His expression is so truly catlike that it makes Taeil chuckle, walking over to hold a hand out to the tall hybrid. “Come on, do you want me to show you around?”

  
With a soft _hm_ - _mm_ , Johnny shakes his head, but takes Taeil’s hand anyways. Johnny’s other arm stays wrapped around the plushie as he wanders through Taeil’s house on his own terms, pulling the shorter along with him. It’s cute, watching Johnny’s eyes scan each room, his nose twitching when he scents the air. At one point Taeil feels something warm and soft brush his arm, and looks over to find that Johnny’s tail has unfurled from around his thigh, held aloft and swaying lazily out behind Johnny like it has a mind of its own.

  
“This is your room,” Johnny observes in a soft voice as he pads into Taeil’s bedroom, letting go of Taeil’s hand.

  
“Yeah. Our room now, I guess. Unless you want the guest one, but I didn’t really think...“ Taeil trails off in favor of watching Johnny crawl onto the bed, stretching out until his back arches before flopping onto his side and nuzzling against Taeil’s pillows. A deep rumbling sound starts, growing louder until Taeil is peering around trying to figure out what it is, only to stare at Johnny with wide eyes when he realizes it’s the other boy purring.

  
“That’s all you?” Taeil asks. Johnny twitches one ear, stares back at him with honey-colored eyes, and continues to purr.

  
“My old owners made me sleep on the floor,” Johnny comments, running his fingers over Taeil’s comforter. “Not that I minded, I’ll sleep anywhere.”

  
“Well, I’m not going to make you sleep on the floor,” Taeil reassures. “You can sleep wherever you want.”

  
“Even in your bed with you?” Johnny perks up, tail beginning to swish back and forth. Taeil nods, and Johnny flashes his teeth in a smile, sitting up on his hands.

  
“Pretty kitty,” Taeil compliments, offering one hand out to Johnny. The younger sniffs at his fingertips, curious, before nuzzling under Taeil’s palm and purring noisily when Taeil scratches behind his ears. Johnny leans into the elder’s touch, eyes fluttering shut, and Taeil wonders if he’d just sit here letting Taeil pet him forever. He pulls his hand away, and Johnny’s eyes reopen, pupils blown. Johnny pouts up at Taeil, pushing into the elder’s hand once more.

 

 

Johnny really likes to sleep. It’s not like Taeil hadn’t expected as much, but it’s fascinating to learn how easily the hybrid dozes off anywhere, anytime. They could be on the subway, heading home from a quick trip to the grocery store, and Johnny’s lids will droop, his head lolling onto Taeil’s shoulder. During movies, Johnny’s interest wanes, and next thing Taeil knows, Johnny is nuzzling into his neck, purring in his ear and squinting up at Taeil, annoyed, when the lights come back on and the credits roll.

  
Around Taeil’s house, Johnny has certain spots the elder can always find him in; Taeil’s bed, obviously, is Johnny’s favorite, but the floor in front of the bay window in the living room runs a close second. He’s there so often that Taeil eventually set out some blankets so Johnny would be comfortable, and Johnny’s stuffed whale, Blue, is usually there. Johnny basks in the sun for hours, the long lines of his bare body illuminated in the golden light. Johnny prefers to wear as little clothing as he’s permitted to, which, as long as they’re home alone, is usually nothing at all. Most hybrids behave similarly, something in their physiology making them dislike too much friction against their skin.

  
All cat hybrids are different. Some only display one or two animal traits beyond the ears and tail, and there’s others who lack them entirely, but then there are the ones like Johnny; he almost seems more cat than human sometimes. Taeil first discovers this one morning when he wakes up to Johnny straddling his stomach, staring right down at Taeil.

  
“I’m hungry,” Johnny murmurs before rubbing his cheek against Taeil’s, faint purring coming from the back of his throat. The sun hasn’t risen yet, and Taeil wonders what time it is, but all the same he reaches up to lazily scratch behind Johnny’s ears. “Okay, kitty. Just a minute and we’ll fix something.”

  
The clock on Taeil’s stove tells him it’s four fifty-seven in the morning. Not too bad. Johnny follows Taeil into the kitchen, boxers hanging low on his slim hips and tail curling over one shoulder. Johnny’s nose is pink, lips swollen and his eyes lidded. He pouts down at Taeil, who in turn reaches up to brush Johnny’s dark locks away from his face. “What is it, kitty?”

  
Taeil can feel the warmth radiating off of Johnny, and he presses the back of his hand to the other’s forehead, frowning. “Do you feel alright, darling? You’re a little warm.”

  
Johnny answers by leaning into Taeil’s hand until the elder relents and begins petting his hair. His purring starts up again, and Johnny shifts from foot to foot, tail held high in the air.

  
“Just wanna be close,” Johnny mumbles, pulling Taeil against him and leaning down in order to nuzzle his face into the elder’s neck.

 

 

Breakfast is quiet. Taeil sits on the couch, Johnny curled up against his side being fed his breakfast one bite at a time. Taeil’s sure some hybrid owners would be shaking their heads at him right about now, warning him that he’ll spoil Johnny into always wanting to be hand-fed, but Taeil doesn’t really care. He’s always heard about how easily spoiled hybrids are, how they grow accustomed to things happening one way and throw a tantrum at any change, but Taeil has also always wondered just how much truth really lies behind those warnings. The most spoiled hybrids he’d ever met was Doyoung’s pair of kittens, Jungwoo and Mark, and albeit stubbornly, they’d both still concede when Doyoung made it clear they wouldn’t get their way.

  
“Hyung,” Johnny sighs out, shifting until he’s comfortable. The younger boy noses at Taeil’s neck, and it takes Taeil a second to realize the tickling sensation against his jugular is Johnny licking him. Johnny’s hair tickles Taeil’s jaw, and Taeil can feel Johnny’s entire body vibrating as he purrs, and Taeil finally pulls back a little to look at Johnny. “You sure you’re feeling okay, kitten?”

  
Johnny’s lashes flutter at the pet name, and he places one hand on the other side of Taeil’s neck, pulling him in close again. “Hmm. ‘M gonna mark you.”

  
“You’re wh-“ Taeil gasps when Johnny sinks his teeth into the dip between Taeil’s shoulder and neck. Johnny isn’t biting hard enough to break the skin, but certainly enough to leave a mark, and when Taeil squirms a little, Johnny bites down harder, his purring turning into a quiet growl. He doesn’t do it for long, releasing Taeil after less than a minute and licking over the bruising spot on Taeil’s skin. “Mine,” Johnny mumbles, rubbing cheeks with Taeil.

  
A quick google search tells Taeil that new environments, or adjusting to new people, can sometimes confuse a hybrid. Something about new smells, new power dynamics from what they’d had in a litter or with old owners, sending their biology into overdrive. Apparently, it can trigger an early heat, or even a heat when it had been lying dormant previously. A little more than half of male hybrids lack the makeup to experience heats, their human inability to reproduce the right way overpowering the animal instinct to be bred, and mated. Unfortunately for the other half, their animal biology still leaves the males burning in their skin, itching to be bred even when it’s not possible.

  
Symptoms of heat in hybrids include: restlessness or sleeping more than usual, increased body temperature, excessive affection, and loss of appetite. Taeil looks away from his laptop screen and over at Johnny, who’s been napping in his spot by the window since this morning – it’s past noon by now – and raises his eyebrows slightly. For the past couple of days, Johnny’s been checking almost all of those boxes. Taeil wonders if he should be worried. Hybrids in heat are a handful, something Taeil knows from firsthand experience; he’s helped Doyoung out on more than one occasion when Jungwoo’s heats made him insatiable and Doyoung alone couldn’t fulfill the hybrid’s needs.

  
Taeil wonders if that is what Doyoung meant by _call_ _me_ _if_ _you_ _need_ _any_ _help_ the last time the younger came over and met Johnny.

 

 

On day three, Taeil wakes up to Johnny biting and lapping at his neck, his ridiculous feverish body heat making the elder sweat. Johnny’s making a soft whining sound in the back of his throat, and one of his hands grips Taeil’s shirt.

  
“Hey angel, I’m here,” Taeil soothes, stroking Johnny’s cheek with his fingertips. Johnny mewls, licking the sweat off of Taeil’s skin once more. “Hold me,” he breathes, squirming against Taeil. Shifting until he’s able to sit up, his back against the headboard, Taeil pats Johnny’s cheek. “Here, kitty, sit in my lap.”

  
Johnny doesn’t hesitate. In spite of his size, Johnny manages to make himself seem small in Taeil’s lap, arching as close as he can to the elder and tucking his face into Taeil’s neck. “Hurts,” he whines, “heat’s coming.”

  
“I know, kitten. What do you need from me?” Taeil runs his fingers down the dip of Johnny’s spine to the base of his tail, and the hybrid moans aloud, pressing into Taeil’s touch. Johnny bites at Taeil’s neck, leaving marks all over. “Just wanna be close to you,” breathes Johnny.

  
“Where does it hurt, kitty? Show me,” Taeil encourages. Johnny guides one of Taeil’s hands to the soft part of his tummy, and Taeil hums, rubbing circles against Johnny’s hot skin and adding more pressure as he goes. The affect it has on Johnny is obvious in the way he goes lax against Taeil, whimpers and mewls in the elder’s ear.

  
“Good?” Taeil murmurs. He gets Johnny’s deep, rumbling purr in response, the younger’s arms looping around Taeil’s neck.

  
“Guess I should call into work, then..” Taeil uses his other hand to play with Johnny’s silky hair.

 

 

That’s how they spend the day, Johnny in Taeil’s lap or curled up beside him, dozing in and out of a feverish sleep and occasionally whining that his stomach hurts. Johnny shakes his head no, refusing when Taeil asks if he’s hungry, pushing the elder’s hand away when he holds small bites of food to Johnny’s lips.

  
“It’s gonna be worse tomorrow,” Johnny slurs as he lies across Taeil’s lap, back arching when Taeil traces his fingers down the younger’s spine, along Johnny’s shoulder blades and the dimples at the small of his back. Johnny has to get his noisy purring under control to add, “Gonna need help. It’s a lot.”

  
“I know, kitten, it’s okay.” Taeil massages the base of Johnny’s tail, earning a moan from the hybrid. Johnny’s back arches and he sticks his bum in the air, mewling with satisfaction when Taeil runs his hand along the younger’s tail.

 

 

A couple of days later, and Johnny’s heat has finally simmered to a close, with the help of Doyoung and Sicheng. He’s still passed out in bed, smears of cum and slick slowly drying on his thighs. Taeil feels bad, as he’s fully aware of how spent Johnny must be, but he coaxes the hybrid awake, helps Johnny walk to the bathroom on shaky legs so he can clean off.

  
Johnny squeezes his eyes shut and wrinkles his nose when Taeil wets his hair, effectively getting the hybrid’s soft ears wet too. Once Taeil’s done, Johnny reopens his eyes to glare sleepily at the elder, ears twitching to get the water droplets off.

  
“It’s just a little water, kitten, you’ll live.” Taeil kisses Johnny’s cheek and grabs the shampoo to wash his hair. _Hmmph_ ing quietly, Johnny leans into Taeil’s touch.

 

 

“Would you ever get me a collar?” Johnny turns over until he’s on his back beside Taeil, head in the elder’s lap. Taeil looks away from his laptop screen, down at Johnny instead, a fond smile curling his lips up. “Would you like one?”

  
Johnny looks away, his cheeks flushing a rosy shade. “My-my old owners said no when I asked them, they said I didn’t need one..”

  
“I’ll get you any collar you want, honey,” Taeil murmurs, stroking Johnny’s hair with one hand and typing on his laptop with the other. Johnny grabs Taeil’s hand and bites it gently, nibbles at his fingertips before settling down and sucking on the elder’s two forefingers. Johnny’s eyes squint as if he’s smiling when Taeil looks down at him, and Taeil’s heart warms his chest.


End file.
